Koori no Kokoro
by The Big Pen
Summary: You're a thief, murderer, and unscrupulous scoundrel, she said, scowling. I don't have any reason to trust you. Kurama said, And I'm asking for the chance to win your trust. Will you let me help you? KuramaOC
1. Chapter 1

**Koori no Kokoro**

By: _Minuiko_

A/N: (The Big Pen is not one person)

I realize that practically no one likes Kurama x OCs, so it'll be a personal challenge to get people to like Yuzaki.

&

Prologue

&

_Makai_

It was midday, but it impossible to tell; a thickening gray miasma made visibility close to zero. A young girl nearing adolescence wrapped her arms around her body, more to sustain a feeling of security, which was quickly evaporating, than to keep warm, because warmth was not a feeling she was comfortable with, something she had never been comfortable with.

Her somber violet eyes quickly scanned the area before she entered a secluded old house with paper doors echoing the style of the Era of the Warring States and wooden corridors. Her mouth twisted slightly as she stepped over bloodstained futons and sheets, with people still in them, faces contorted in expressions of pain and struggle. She knelt by a small cupboard in a corner of the room, fumbling through papers and artifacts until she finally held in her hand a fine silver chain with a tiny, intricately wrought blue jewel attached to the end.

_He cannot take the Akari stone. You must not let him have it._

"I know. I know that already…"

_Our family's life lies within you. You are now heir apparent. _

"My life, you mean. My family is dead."

The girl quickly stood and hurried out the back door of the place that held so many memories for her, memories that she no longer wanted. _But _he_ is not. If he is not dead, there will always be the risk of him stealing our heirloom. He cannot be allowed to live. _

She looked at the dark sky. "I will find you, Youko Kurama."

&

Chapter One

&

_Ningenkai_

"Ku-ra-ma."

Kurama blinked at Yuusuke's eerily accurate imitation of Hiei's growl, and stepped back into the light. They were at Yuusuke's school, with Kurama playing messenger boy for Koenma as his school had let them out for summer vacation early. "Yes?"

"What did that pacifier-freak want?"

"Some new case… about a part-demon girl who was starting to attract attention around Mushiyori city… he wasn't specific. You should talk to him."

"Why couldn't he just send some video tape over like he did with Yukina's case? It would be a whole lot easier… speaking of which, she still doesn't know that Hiei is her brother?"

"He has his reasons," Kurama stated evenly.

Yuusuke sat on the ground, scratching his neck. "Fine, whatever. I'll see Koenma. Is Botan coming?"

Kurama quirked a smile. "In due time. How else do you expect to get there? Get run over by a car again?"

Yuusuke made a face. "Nah, one time was enough. Though I _could _get Keiko to slap me to _Reikai _and back…"

Kurama was about to answer when the bubbly, blue-haired girl apparated out of nowhere, flashing a characteristic smile. Botan said cheerfully, "Well, shall we go?"

&

Kurama stayed behind, watching as Yuusuke and Botan disappeared into the distance on the ferry girl's oar. The school bell rang, and several students' parents were already at the front, waiting for them. He felt a slight wave of nostalgia; he hadn't seen his mother in over two months, ever since he got his own apartment and was living alone (Hiei would drop by occasionally, denying that he was a bit lonely, and ask Kurama what was happening with a don't-you-dare-ask-me-why-I'm-here glare).

His senses picked up a strange power. _This isn't normal demon energy… it isn't human, either… It's… could it be…?_

He thrust his arm out, drawing his power to swiftly grow a seed hidden in his left sleeve into a full-grown plant, and caught a sword thrust straight at his neck, just inches away from his jugular vein. _That was too close…_

The cloaked girl withdrew her sword, which had the design of a winged dragon and a sideways cross on its hilt, and stood back in a stiff, wary pose. Her braided blue-green hair flowed evenly in the wind as her cold amethyst eyes narrowed, though whether it was in amusement or anger, he couldn't tell. Her face was half-covered.

"I didn't expect any less from you, demon traitor."

Her voice was sharp; if he could see her mouth, she probably would've been sneering. Kurama stepped backwards, keeping his expression guarded. _Definitely not human_, he thought. He took a stab in the dark, saying, "If you'd been full demon, you could've gotten me."

"Shut up." Her response was quick, angry. He felt a bit of satisfaction. _She's the half-demon, alright_.

"What do you want with me?" he asked, keeping his voice low and even.

"I want to kill you," she snapped, thrusting the sword at his neck again. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Yes, I think we've established the fact," he said, dodging the sword but making no attempt to hurt her. He didn't make any distinction between the sexes when fighting, but all the same, it was unwise to do something to her when she was involved in Yuusuke's case. "But _why_?"

"That's my business," she said. She stopped trying to hack him to pieces and instead sent a stream of spirit energy at him; a small part latched onto his arm, and turned into a solid block of ice. "You're part ice demon," he realized.

"Very astute," she said, voice heavy with sarcasm. She managed to knock him off balance once. "You're going to die if you don't start fighting back. Why aren't you? Do you find me incompetent, you full-demon bastard?"

"Just trying to avoid a potentially messy situation," he said, cracking the ice by growing the roots of a plant through it. "I don't think I'm allowed to kill you."

"Since when were you ever merciful?" she spat. "You kill everyone without predilection. You think you can avoid dying just by showing mercy?"

She raised the sword above her head, to throw it, he presumed. He rushed at her, kicked it out of her hand, and restrained her arms behind her back. "I don't think you're stupid enough to throw your weapon away, are you?" he said into her ear.

"Get away from me!" she screamed, struggling to break his hold. He was stronger.

"Be a good girl and don't cause any more commotion," he advised. "Someone from _Reiki _will come soon. You're being watched, you know that?"

"I don't need you to tell me that," she said. "Don't touch me!"

"If I were to let go, would that stop you from trying to murder me?" he asked. Her response was an icy stare. He smiled slightly. "I didn't think so. Just be quiet, no one's going to hurt you."

Her energy began to change; she didn't have very much control over it, so Kurama could see her spirit energy turn blue-white, and jumped back before she could freeze him. He was slightly impressed; if she'd been just a bit faster, he would be frozen solid by now. "She's quite a firebrand," he murmured to himself. "I guess I'll just have to subdue her."

As the girl moved closer, he moved with inhuman speed, getting behind her in less than a second; he then aimed two fingers at the back of her slender neck, careful not to snap and break it, just pressing hard enough at the right place to render her unconscious. He caught her as she fell.

"Sorry," he apologized, even though she couldn't hear him anymore. "You were getting difficult."

"Such a gentleman," Koenma said sarcastically, appearing seemingly from nowhere just as Botan had. He had assumed the shape of a handsome, brown-haired young man (still with a pacifier), possibly to blend in the human world, but more likely, Kurama thought, because he wanted to attract females. It didn't matter; the prince of _Reiki_ could do what he wanted. Koenma stooped down to take the girl; relieved of the burden, Kurama stood, paid his respects with a short bow, and cocked his head to one side. "You heard everything?"

"Most of it," Koenma admitted. "There's a lot she's hiding, I think. She sounded desperate, and was acting recklessly… but she doesn't seem stupid. We don't have any background info on her, though, so I think she's illegitimate."

Kurama shrugged. It wasn't so uncommon. "What will you do with her?"

Koenma shook his head. "I'll talk to you at _Reiki_. It's too public here. This case involves you, as I'm sure you've already gathered."

"Do you have any idea who she is?"

"_Reiki_," Koenma repeated. "Come on."

The _Reiki _prince gestured to the girl with blue-green hair. "You can hold onto her," he said, then joked, "I think she likes you more."

Kurama made a face. Koenma probably only wanted Kurama there so he wouldn't have to carry the girl. "Lazy," Kurama accused. Koenma only laughed. Nevertheless, Kurama still scooped the unconscious girl into his arms and carried her to _Reiki_. She had some explainign to do.

&

_.:Tsuzuku:._

&

This is a remake of my first story ever, The Shadow of an Icy Past (which I deleted…). Hopefully it's a bit better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Koori no Kokoro**

By: _Minuiko_

A/N: Comeback after 3 years? Maybe, maybe not. I wonder if anyone reads YYH fanfics anymore. I wonder why I'm updating when it's finals week. It's my way of practicing how to write real stories, I suppose.

&

Chapter Two

&

_Reikai_

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Yuzaki awoke to the sound of water dripping from the cracks in the ceiling. The first thing she noticed when she tried to move was that she had rusted iron manacles chaining her hands and feet to the ground. It was freezing in the room; it seemed they were being considerate of her heritage.

She moved to a sitting position and immediately winced as she saw white and her head felt like it were getting pummeled by a Class A demon. She stretched out some of the kinks in her spine and surveyed her surroundings. The cell was boring, made of slabs of cracked gray stone. There were no windows, only a single steel door with a slit in it, probably for sliding food in.

A sharp noise in the front of the room alerted her to her situation. _Stupid, stupid! _she thought. How could she get caught on her first attempt? Her most important mission?

The door screeched open and three people came in, two she didn't know and the other someone whose face she'd studied intently in the _Makai _ever since she accepted her mission. Youko Kurama's reputed death came as a huge shock to her, and she thought she'd moved on until rumors of him resurfaced at the time of the Dark Tournament. She began her mission anew.

The chains rattled as she stood and squared her shoulders, breathing through her nose. She calmed herself; she wasn't going to lunge for him when she didn't even have her sword and he had two friends with him. She resigned herself for the torture she knew would come. It was the way they dealt with renegade demons like her.

"You're a member of the Akari family?" a small toddler in blue asked, holding up her treasure sword with her family name inscribed finely at the base of the blade. "Or did you steal this?"

"It's mine," she bit out, furious that he would even think that, but then again, most demons had no scruples about stealing. Youko Kurama had made a living off it, she thought bitterly.

"Now tell me something I don't know," Yuzaki said. "Like why a demon traitor like _him_," she jerked her head at the redhead, "is allied with the _Reiki_. He's committed more offenses than King Enma has oni."

One of the boys started angrily. "Kurama's a good guy—"

"Quiet, Yuusuke," the toddler said, raising his hand at the disgruntled black-haired boy. He turned to Yuzaki. "Kurama's had his share of trouble, though only one true offense against _Reiki_," the baby admitted. "We let him off last year on good behavior and he's been working for us for a while now."

"So are you this lenient with all traitors or is that reserved for the especially pretty ones?"

Kurama stood before her and it took great effort not to spit in his face. She had her pride, but showing insolence when she was in this position, unable to even defend herself, was plain stupid.

He looked at her with clear, cold eyes. She stared back, not willing to be the first to look away. She expected him to interrogate her. Hit her. What she didn't expect was for him to unlock her shackles and produce a small jar of ointment from his sleeve.

"That must hurt," he murmured, indicating her bruised wrist. There was a small smile on his face, and Yuzaki thought him a sadist. Was he _enjoying _this? "If you can promise not to try and assassinate me again, I can treat that."

"Don't touch me," she said, shrinking away from his hand. This was a trick to get her off her guard. What was that phrase again? "It's easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar." He was trying to trap her, get her to feel comfortable enough to talk. She'd rather suffer the bruising than be healed by _him_. In the back of her mind she realized with faint humiliation that the reason he could afford to do this was because he didn't even consider her a threat.

"As you wish," he said, pocketing the ointment and folding his sleeves.

As he moved, she detected the faint fragrance of roses and wanted to be sick. It was wrong for such a nice smell to belong to the demon that murdered her parents. It was partly in reaction to such a contradiction that she said without thinking, "What, you're not gonna—torture me? Trap my _youki_? Crush my skull in? Have your years in _Ningenkai_ made you soft?"

"Hey, pacifier-freak, she's really ticking me off," the black-haired boy growled.

"You'll just have to deal with it, Yuusuke," Koenma said, turning back to Yuzaki. "Trapping your _youki_… that's a good idea, actually. All those demons must be after you because they can sense your _youki_, so if we suppress it and you lay low for awhile, hopefully they'll give up and go back to _Makai_. Or we could just offer you up as bait and let them kill you. Which sounds better to you?"

"I'd rather be dead than at his mercy," Yuzaki said, tilting her head at Kurama.

"Unfortunately, until you tell us _why _they're after you, you don't get a say. So, why _are _they after you?"

It was such a simple reason, but she'd be damned before she relented. She just glowered at the three before Koenma sighed, his fingers on his forehead. "Alright, _youki_-suppression it is," he said. "We'll send someone for you later."

-

"Wait, wait, so my assignment is to _defend _her? She tried to kill Kurama!"

"The key word here is 'tried,' Yuusuke," Koenma said. "I'm certain Kurama can take care of himself, and besides, we can't leave her alone until we discover why these demons are after her."

"Why don't we beat it out of her then," Yuusuke said.

"Yuusuke, I don't know if you know this, but—"

"What, hitting girls is wrong? Are you turning into Kuwabara?"

"— but the Akari family used to be extremely valuable to _Reikai _in the past. They were one of the few demon families that helped us keep the smaller demons under control."

"So the family's good. That doesn't make the girl any less deserving of a good punch in the face."

"Yuusuke, her family's _dead_," Koenma said, turning to look the spirit detective in the eye. "Because of Kurama."

-

"I say you kill her," Hiei said, perched comfortably against Kurama's apartment window. He had long since established that spot as his, and popped up from time to time. "She's going to stab you in the back sooner or later."

"There's no question she wants me dead," Kurama mused. "But she seems more like the type to go for a direct strike rather than a back attack. Besides, you know me. I'm cautious enough for the both of us."

Hiei snorted. "Living in _Ningenkai_ has made you soft, fox."

Funny, the girl said the same thing, Kurama thought. Hiei crossed and uncrossed his ankles, disgruntled. "I'm not going to look after your skin."

"I wouldn't ask that of you," Kurama said, smiling serenely. "You have your own things to do, your own secrets to keep."

Hiei eyed him suspiciously. "You didn't tell Yukina—"

"Of course not," Kurama said, sitting at his desk now and folding his hands together on his crossed legs. "But you can't expect to keep her in the dark forever. She already thinks of you as a brother."

"You know why I can't tell her."

"What if she figures it out? Will you tell her she's wrong, then?"

"Worry about yourself, fox," Hiei snapped, standing up and opening the window. He gave Kurama a once-over before he dashed away into the night. Kurama sighed. They wanted him to _drive_ them tomorrow. He really wondered what was going through Koenma's head that he'd ask this.

-

"I won't live with him!"

"I won't live with her!"

Koenma smiled at Yuzaki and Yuusuke, who were both in the back seat of the car but sitting as far as possible from each other. "Would you rather keep her under Kuwabara's watch then? Or maybe Kurama's? And here I thought you were so worried for him."

Yuzaki was frustrated. These people were going to drive her insane, and she still didn't have her sword back. She was even worse off than before she came here, because now she didn't even have her _youki _to defend herself, at least not until that old hag took the spirit cuffs off of her. It was too hot in this car, too hot in this _town_. It was stifling.

"Maybe you can introduce her to Yukina, they're both ice demons, right?"

Yuzaki's head snapped up. She said sharply, "Yukina of the Koorime?"

"You know her?"

"No. I've heard of her. The Koorime are supposed to be absolutely ruthless, and this one was stupid enough to get caught by a human."

She wasn't trying to be vindictive, but the heat was making her snappy. She had nothing against the Koorime, or Yukina.

Yuusuke growled. "I can't put up with this shit."

Kurama gave them a cursory glance back from the driver's seat. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Hiei would never approve."

"I am _not_ going to live with this bitch!" Yuusuke said. "Besides, Keiko would kill me!"

"What do you propose then?" Koenma said.

"Why can't you keep her in _Reikai_?"

"Because she hasn't done anything wrong yet," Koenma said.

"She tried to kill Kurama!"

"Kurama is a full-blooded demon who can take care of himself," Koenma reminded Yuusuke. "We don't interfere with affairs between two demons. _Reikai _only steps in if demons are affecting _Ningenkai_."

Talking. They were talking too much. It was making her head spin.

"How convenient," Yuusuke said, throwing up his hands. Yuzaki wanted him to shut up already, she was going to throw up. "Look, I don't know what we're doing with her, but she's not living with me, and that's final."

"Your assignment…"

Yuzaki fainted.

*

_~Tsuzuku~_

*


End file.
